what can i do with a dance degree?

Question

i am planning to go to an arts university after high school to get my bachelor's degree in fine arts, in other words, dance, but i dont know what i can do with it....how much is it really worth?

Answer 1

In many ways, a BFA can actually be worth more than a plain old BA. It can prepare you for all the jobs that any unskilled liberal arts major could get PLUS ones that utilize the skills you acquire to earn your BFA.

As a dance major, you would still take a solid distribution of liberal arts classes, so you would still learn how to research and analyze information and writer papers. But you also get hands-on experience in the performing arts through classes such as stage production and choreography that give dance students experience in organizing every aspect of a production from start to finish. You must be creative to figure out how to turn a concept into a reality - from costume ideas, props, publicity, etc. These skills are transferable to any job where you have to make something happen out of nothing by researching where you are going to get the necessary materials. Right now, my daughter is in a "Careers in Dance" class that requires students to draw up business plans and actual budgets for starting a dance-related business. Her group is looking into video production. The class also teaches how to apply for grants. You won't get that from a B.A.

Thus, a BFA can lead to a wide variety of jobs from event planning, community organizing, recreational education, etc. to the typical arts management positions. And all of that is beyond the obvious dance-related jobs (performing, choreographing and teaching). Many former dance majors seek out jobs in fitness-related fields (pilates, yoga, jazzercize). There are also media-related jobs such as dance photographer, reviewer, and the growing field of dance on film. Others go on to graduate school for any number of fields, including a PhD in dance research. A few make it big in acting.

Being a dance major means a college schedule that is much more packed than the typical college student's because you will be spending so many more hours in the studio and in rehearsal. Therefore, dance majors learn how to be great time managers. They must also become experts at learning how to work cooperatively. They need to become master politicians because they must maintain good ties with their colleagues throughout their entire careers, no matter where they go, because the dance scene is a small world. Dancers must be self-driven, mature, and good at taking care of their health, so they are amazing workers in any situation.

Having been a liberal arts major, myself, my sense is that most college students must wait to experience the real working world until after they graduate, while BFA students get to do real life work while they are in college.

P.S. I seriously doubt that anyone with a BFA in dance would give the answer you gave to the question that recently selected you as "Best Answer." I have a feeling you didn't read the question.

Answer 2

You could do a number of things with it:

1. Become a dance teacher
2. Become a choreographer
3. Become an agent who recruits dancers, or work in such an agency (you'd know a good dancer from a bad one - that's all it takes, plus some business sense)
4. Become a university lecturer in the arts, specializing in dance.

Answer 3

I really think you are or should be qualified to be a dancer. You know like those people in musicals who "dance". There use to be a dance troop called the "Solid Gold Dancers". Dancing is fun. Did you know the "Electric Slide" is patented? Of course you, you have Dance degree.

Answer 4

Teach dance
Open your own dance studio
Become a choreographer

Answer 5

Teach or dance. Maybe manage a dance troup.

Answer 6

You can be a dancer, dance choregrapher, work for a company and do talent search, dance coach, own a studio, and whatever else you feel like doing!

Answer 7

Copy it a million times and use it as $50,000 wallpaper

Answer 8

Open a school, be a ballerina

Answer 9

teach, or chreograph for shows..